Alshain Edition: Chapter 3
Summary The chance to receive the <> sends the two brothers on a trip to <>. But through the endless hordes of Evil Gods and Frost Creatures, the pair got more than they bargained for. The Murmur's Sword Yggdrasil City, World Tree, Neutral Territory, Alfheim, December 20th, 2025, 19:34 It was only a rumour I heard, but it was good enough for me. A quest into the frozen wastelands that lay below the greens of Alfheim was a terrible thing to even dream of; alone, the penalties for dying were great as they stood in Alfheim, where your constantly being killed by random mobs and other players, but Jötunheimr was a player killer in its own right. The mobs were ridiculously powerful, and the landscape alone was so unstable that there was no permanent map route you could take because it was literally crumbling beneath us. Flying was out of the question to unless you were an Imp, but only temporarily, and there would be no recharging since neither the sun of the stars shone over its skies. But in spite of all that, this rumour I have heard will be the only thing worth taking on this world for. A weapon containing the ultimate power in this game. It was such a chance an idiot wouldn't even pass it up. I flew around <> until I came to an apartment facing southwards towards the <> in Salamander Territory. The rent was a bit much, but thanks to Tallyn's high charging and 100% hire success rate, <> were never a problem at the end of each month. We bought it during the Shōwa weekend, and we had been using it as a base in <> ever since. Since Satoru had to be in this game for most of his free time for his mental health, there was a large window of time he could be here. I only joined if I was around, which wasn't as much as it used to. I fully understood what it was like when Satoru had to decrease his gaming time when he was first in middle school. But today, I had time, and I would have some more for a few days; I made sure to get everything done just for this. For this quest, there was nothing to hinder this last few days before it vanished forever. There was no way I would pass up this opportunity while it was still a possibility. Reached the door, and slammed right into it. We were in a safe zone, so no health was lost, but the thick wood was enough to flatten my face against it. I hit the ground and jumped to my feet. I tapped the doorknob and a four character window opened. I typed in the password: カ-サ-サ-ギ Since Satoru used the house more, and the fact he was actually paying for it in Zeus own pockets, he chose the password. 'Kasasagi' which meant 'Magpie'. He was lucky that he could use four characters minimum or else it may not have fit. It wasn't the first password we had though, he changed it once every so often, something would just make him think if something else. If we didn't live in the same house, this would have been a huge problem for me. But he was going anywhere anytime soon. I opened the door once the confirmation box appeared and I walked through, closing the door behind when it was done. Since <> had been added, quite a few players would pass through here, since it was the quickest route to and from whenever the floating castle circled throughout this workd, which meant <> would always becoming in from players in Alfheim and <>. I looked inside, but I couldn't see him. His icon was on my top right, so he was definitely still in the apartment. I walked up to the only closed door I could see, his room. I knocked three times. "Hey, Onii-chan!" His voice appeared from behind as the door started to open. "Come on in, Alshain" he said, as I walked through past him. "I was just about to swap accounts anyways. Just give me-" "No" I quipped immediately. If you were aware of his condition, you would understand why I was shopping him. Because of his confidentiality, I cannot speak anymore of this, but a condition of his psychiatrists recommended he make another account to escape his need to be Tallyn so often. But Tallyn was who I needed him to be to pull this off. "This is important." He sighed and close up his menu. "Fine" he replied. His usual cloaks and armour was unequipped and he was wearing a lighter set of clothing for casual lounging. He looked like he had been undressing as his avatar was topless. He sat in his bed, which was an unusual necessity he wanted to have, and had looked up at me. "what is it? You didn't get me wrapped up in another duel because Isis caught you in their territory again, did you?" I would have argued, but I did have one other small incident. Not with Isis though, I stayed away from her for a few months till she collected her jets. She's actually on my friends list now, after a few expeditions into <>. There was only one word I could say to keep him here; "Jötunheimr." His eyes shot open, as he leaned forward and rested on his knees. "What about it?" "There's a quest ending soon, for killing Evil-Gods." He didn't look to impressed. He might have already known about it, or maybe the thought of a quest into a frozen world wasn't worth his time. "So what?" "How can you just say 'so what'?" He shook his head and opened his menu again. He wasn't going logout on me, was he? "It's too difficult" he said, turning around, but keeping it open. With his right hand now pressed backhanded lay against his hip, he was about to lecture me on why the hell he thought it was not a good idea; "There are too many of them and they are pretty high levelled. Plus, Jötunheimr is seriously uninhabitable. It's a huge death trap waiting to swallow you up. I haven't been there, and there is a reason for it. That and no one willing to pay for my assistance has tried to set foot in there. Only fools with big ambition go down there." Oh, he thinks so does he I thought to myself. My brother was easy to manipulate if you knew what buttons to press; Satoru was too broken to do it with and frankly I would consider if in humane to that to him IRL. Tallyn on the other hand was free game, and he liked the pretence of greed as a distraction to his real intentions, which could be exploited. I could sound like I had him on the ropes or that would give away the game, so I tried the role reverse tone. "Not just them." His hand hesitated in front of the mirror. He had turned around when I waited too long to answer, but I had his attention now. "Keep talking." Caught him on my hook. "You'll never guess what the reward for the quest is?" "Yrds?" I was licking my lips now, he had no idea. "No." "A spell for ice casters?" "As if I would be interested in that." "A spell for fire casters?" "You do remember what Jötunheimr looks like, right?" He shrugged his shoulders and turned right around. His back resting against the door of his wardrobe where the mirror hung inside. "Dunno then. I give up." "It's only a rumour, but apparently, the NPC that gives you the quest, has the sword, Excalibur." I pricked his interest now. The name alone was an instant catnip for any faith in this game, not just Cait Sith. He stopped leaning and stood straight up, brushing the menu away. "The Excalibur?" For some reason, while I could see he was interested, he still had doubts. His facial expression was still Tallyn's hard and sharp expression rather than Satoru's softer appearance. But I guessed this is what I got for directing this to his intentions. "The one and only. The single greatest weapon in this game; One-handed sword, Unlimited resistance, infinite durability, 'the sword which cut all of steel and tree'." "And . . . impossible to reach." I then stopped taking. "What?" He rolled his eyes as he threw open a map he fished from his inventory. The lands of Alfheim were on one side, and in the back was a picture of <> and the names of every town and the floors they were on, but no more detail than that. He scolded his hand to the bottom of Alfheim and opened up the bottom to reveal Jötunheimr. "The weapon has been in the game since ALO has been active, and for under two years, no one has ever managed to retrieve if from Jötunheimr." "Come on, maybe this is why there's a quest now. So that it can be retrieved. What do we have to lose?" "Exp, Yrds, time." Damn, he was being really serious about this. What, and the endless hordes of guardians in the <> were not a wasted effort? "Look, it's a simple quest and the reward is Excalibur. And it will end in four days, so this will be the only opportunity to get the sword handed to us on a silver platter. If not anything else, that weapon is not only the best, it's one-of-a-kind; if you don't want it, at least consider it a trophy, or a sales item. Think of all the notoriety we would get from being the players who got Excalibur" He thought about it fir a while. The look if potential on his face. If only there was more I could say to get him to find. I could not do this without him. Especially not without him. He smiled softly and gave me a thumbs up, which gave me great relief. "Alright then. I was suppose to logout from doctors orders, so how about tomorrow? We'll agree to a time IRL." I nodded and opened up my menu. This was going to be great. "Should we invite anyone to join us?" If we were going to do this, then we should bring a whole team along. We were allowed seven players in a party, so we could get another five for maximum advantage. "I'd prefer not." I stopped what I was doing. Did he just say no? "Apart from you, I don't particularly fancy partnering up with anyone. And this way, we don't have to argue about who gets Excalibur when this is over with." "But, the two of us. I know that you're the one who said we couldn't do it. But now, you're acting crazier thinking that only the two of us can do it alone. Teams of seven have never made it through to the end, so what chance would us two have?" He had that smile again. The devilish smile that said he was insane. "Simple; the two of us will act with stealth rather than force. My Darkness magic and night vision combo means we can sneak around them, and with your enhanced strength and fire magic, this advantage is all you would need to obliterate them off guard. If not, then we die and we leave." Yep, he's insane. He got straight back up and opened up his menu. "Now, I need time to myself for a while. Doctor's orders." Archduke Þjazi's Castle, Jötunheimr, December 21st, 2025, 10:00 "It's freezing." "What did you expect? Alfheim lore states that King Thrym threw Excalibur into the depths and severed Yggdrasils connection to this land, and thus it became a frozen wasteland." "Where on earth did you hear that?" "I have too much free time when I'm not able to play ALO. It's in the manual, near the back of the 'Land of Alfheim', subsection; 'Jötunheimr'. before the 'Skills and Weapons' lists." I chose not to go further. We were wasting time as it was and we had no idea how long it would take us. For all we knew, it may take us a weeks worth of gaming that wouldn't be available any longer. It took us about an hour before we were even ready to proceed. I knew that Jötunheimr was under the ground, but it was covered by a distance that rivaled the height limit of the skies in Alfheim. Not to mention that since it was underground, we all lost our abilities to fly, which meant that we had to walk or run if we wanted to get anywhere at all. I say that, but my brother was an Imp, so he still had flight for a few hours at a time, even underground. A castle made of ice was where we found out where to start. Many fairies of all races had come and gone through this place. It was strange to me how no one had thought clearly about the fact that despite everyone being eligible for this quest, only one team was every going to get Excalibur. And who wouldn't want it. The best sword in the game. No sword, not even Gram would come close to it. The doors where already open, but the halls we larger than expected. Tallyn kept on walking with a straight posture, which made me hesitant to not copy his actions. I have talked about how different Tallyn is to my brother Satoru, but it was much more than just his way of speaking or his expressions; his posture, movements, mindset alone were enough to convince anyone that they were different people. I remember rarely anything of the old Satoru, the one who didn't suffer from PTSD or DID. But I find it hard to imagine that he was anything close to Tallyn at all, who appeared to be made from a completely different mold and a new set of clay. The hall was short, but for a couple of fairies who were bacteria in this giant's castle, the walk alone was enough to fit the high streets of Akiba for three laps tops, not to mention that you could pile up Tokyo's highest skyscrapers and still have breathing room above. "Your lordship, Archduke Þjazi of Jötunheimr." At the end of the hallway, there was a large throne, and a giant was seated upon it; dressed in all manners of regal gear, like some European warrior monarch in full clad armour lined with furs. A classic Norse beard with braids hanging down his sides. "We are mercenaries who have answered your call. We wish to offer our assistance for the exchange of the prize you have offered up if we complete the task you set us." . . . What on earth was my brother playing at? Polite and noble? This was neither how Satoru nor Tallyn would ever speak to anyone. Certainly not to an AI. He was even kneeling down, with his head to the ground. Looking up at this frost giant, and his deep cold stare that was ripping through my skull, I knelt beside him, and huddle closer. "What are you doing?" "Aesir and Immortals NPCs have higher sophistication in AI interaction, to the point that they respond more accurately and emotionally to how you speak to them. Since we are in his turf, I would rather not waste my durability on anything he mug throw at us if we don't speak to him how he would expect." Eh? "~Brave fairylings of blessed Alfheim.~" I shuddeered at the voice and movements that came out of the giant. Hi blue coloured hands started moving and cracking like thin layers of ice. His face creased, and his eyes narrowed and widened as his words chilled from his breath. He never moved from his throne, but I doubted that he was ever going to move. "~I accept thy offer for assistance, but warn thee that many of thine kin before hath accepted and fallen. I see tis company of but two and fail to understand thy logic. But as thou hath accepted my proposal, I will beith to accept thine greatest aid. Thou shalt slain the masses of Evil God Beasts, and thy prized blade shall be yours as promised by I." "Thank you, my Lord. We shall return from our quest, in victory and defeat. I do not intend to die by the hands of your enemies. And I'll make sure my brother doesn't either." finishedNot finished Category:Chapter Category:AdamantiumBladez